Release From Purgatory: Divine Punishment
by max7238
Summary: Gram, free from the original tower, is transported to the world of Tenchu briefly. Just before the events of Tenchu Senran (Tenchu Z), he becomes something of a first test for Rikimaru's new-found self control. Something written in boredom for fun.


First And Final Event

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><p>Out of the tower to freedom at last... Weapons of all designs stored in memory... Gram spotted a platform between the towers... His presence activated the device, which stole him from the wasteland... Into a world unknown...<p>

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><p>"Master Rikimaru! Lord Gouda has called for your presence in the castle vault! Another portal has opened!" said a low ranking ninja, sent to deliver the message. Before the ninja's eyes, master of the Azuma ninja, Rikimaru, vanished. Only moments later he and Ayame stood before their Lord, prepared to reopen the vault and face whatever villain dared step through this new portal. Lord Gouda stood back, his hand resting on his sword, prepared to draw and defend himself if something should happen to his ninja. Two samurai guards turned the cranks to open the massive vault doors. As the door cracked open, steam issued forth into the dimly lit stone room. A humanoid figure waded through the mist, slow and cautious.<p>

"Identify yourself!" demanded Rikimaru, ready to draw his own weapon.

The figure's head snapped to Rikimaru and it responded with strange words of another language.

"You don't belong here," said Ayame, lowering her stance. "Go back where you came from!"

Again the figure answered with strange, unintelligible words.

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><p>"My Lord, shall we send this intruder back into the portal?" said Rikimaru, loudly but not looking away from the shrouded figure. As he did the mist began to subside. The intruder's metal face, with strange markings all over, became clear. Greatest A.D.A.M. unit of the first tower, Gram, found himself in feudal Japan in a parallel world. He bore no <em>ki<em>, no life energy, even though his AI cells made him more than human. He finally saw the two ninja before him, his sensors picking up on the samurai that had opened the door for him. He also saw a third human further back, their leader from the circumstances. All present entities had weapons, prepared to be used. If they attacked, Gram saw no reason not to defend himself. These were humans, flesh and blood, who could never kill him. He had no killing intention, and the portal he'd been thrown into had closed behind him. His freedom was out of reach once again, for the moment. He tried to talk to the ninja again.

"I am not here to fight. I wish to return just as I'm sure you want me gone. Please, do not attack." Gram raised his hands, palms to the humans, feet close together to avoid any sort of battle stance. He spoke in what he hoped was a gentle tone. No one moved or spoke. Gram stepped forward again, slowly. Despite his passive movements, the humans to his left and right drew their swords and stepped closer to him. A threat. Gram saw little choice; he began forming plate armor on his body and widening his hands into tough shields, his entire body thickening for defense. Even his face and head became deformed as he prepared to be attacked.

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><p>"It seems to be some kind of morphing demon... With a form like that there's no doubt it will try to attack soon. Lord Gouda, we will lure it into the vault. Close us in when we do. Ayame!" said Rikimaru, drawing his sword.<p>

"Right... I'll give it something to look at, you move it," said Ayame, drawing her twin blades.

A few seconds of tension, all frozen. Gram raised a heavy foot to continue walking, only to suddenly feel three slashes ring off of his armor. One of the ninja was now behind him, its twin daggers raised. Gram couldn't turn his head, reinforced as he was, and most of the threat was still in front of him. He put his foot down, deciding to stay where he was. The humans obviously didn't trust him. Would they if he stayed put and didn't counter?

"It didn't work... Hey! Moron! I'm over _here!_" said Ayame, dashing forward to stab the demon in the back. Her swords nearly broke over its hide, shivering from the impact and forcing her to back off again.

"I can't even phase this thing! And a ki strike won't work! It's not even alive!" she reported.

Gram was starting to understand their speech. He was updated with modern languages, but what they spoke was beginning to sound like some ancient Japanese. He could make out their intended meaning now. Gram spoke again, this time trying modern Japanese.

"Please do not attack. I have no intention on fighting you," he said, sticking to a polite form.

Ayame and Rikimaru looked at each other. They understood plenty of that.

"So you can talk... Then I'll ask again for you to identify yourself!" said Rikimaru. No one relaxed quite yet.

"I am from the future. A battle android who escaped from a tower of Purgatory. My name is Gram."

"A what from the tower of Purgatory?" said Ayame. Those weren't words any of them had heard before.

"A robot. A self-moving machine. Made by humans in the future. I am not human. I was designed only to fight and take orders. An immortal warrior who escaped his dark destiny."

"Then how did you get here?" said Rikimaru.

"A portal opened in the wasteland outside the tower that imprisoned me and others like me. Before I could react, I had fallen into that chamber. I only wish to return from whence I came."

"Well that's good because, to be honest, we don't want you around either," said Ayame.

"Then, please, send me back."

"That's not so easy," said Rikimaru, straightening his stance and sheathing his sword. "That portal seems to open at random unless the weapon that cases it is in it's home. To get it and you there would require both of us and more fighting than I think it's worth. Unless you have some way to compensate for all that trouble, we might just lock you in that vault. You said you were immortal, after all."

That angered Gram more than it should have. Just because he had been built a weapon didn't mean that's all he was anymore.

"While I must refuse to give you advanced technology, as I fear upsetting balances, if you have some tough job you need done, I may be able to help where a normal human would certainly fail," said Gram. "I must return."

Lord Gouda stepped forward. "Are you affected by poisons? Can you move in water? If you can, for example, help us reclaim sections of our gold mine from cave-ins and floods of acid, the resulting money would make up for a ninja mission to aid in your return."

Gram absorbed his armor, returning to his default form. "If that is the price I must pay, I will do it," said Gram.

"Great... Can't wait to baby sit a battle _jinzou_-whatever you said..." said Ayame, annoyed.

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><p>That evening Gram arrived outside a large gold mine. It was the biggest in Lord Gouda's lands, but sections of it had filled with deadly acid and still others had caved in. Gram entered alone after the workers had been cleared out. Following directions, Gram quickly detected the acidic tinge in the air. Following it, he found the section of the cave that slanted down into yellow and murky fluid. No doubt this was the acid the workers struck while mining. Air samples suggested and visuals confirmed that this was most likely sulfuric acid. Gram's body began morphing into armor again, this time into composites that would hold off the corrosion while he dove under to plug the source or redirect the acid. With no light, Gram relied on his usual sonar to map surroundings instead of find enemies. Sinking into the water, Gram's AI cells instantly began reporting the corrosion and fighting it. They could only reproduce themselves so fast, and Gram's system estimated that he could safely remain submerged for about 30 minutes before the acid would begin to leak passed the armor shell and begin damaging internal systems. If people had died here, there was no evidence left. Soon Gram found the source of the acid – a large hole probably caused by mining with explosives. The hole had been corroded to be smoother, but the irregular undulations of the rock still gave it away. Gram ducked his head into the hole, letting his sonar fire and map the new section of the cave. Sealing the acid wouldn't hold for long, and redirecting it might take more exploration to find a dry section to break into, if there even was one. Gram sharpened his fingers, jumped into the next section, dug into the rock wall, and began climbing. The surface wasn't too far away anyway. When Gram emerged, he found himself in a large cavern. The acid pool he'd come from was quite small in comparison. More surprising was the light. Lanterns on wires littered the cavern walls, and a wooden fence stood not far from the acid pool. Obviously Gouda wasn't the only country aware of this cave, and the system probably connected for miles. Gram could also see via sonar and previous data, that the cave was close to the surface, only held aloft by limestone supports. Out of the acid, Gram fitted himself with claws and a lighter body, climbing the wall like a spider or lizard to reach the ceiling. Pounding the ceiling with a pile-driver from his chest, and measuring the vibration, Gram found the area above to most likely be forested. He also saw that with a simple barrage, the ceiling would come down.<p>

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><p>Gram returned to the acid pool, fired several heavy mortars at the supporting pillars of limestone, a barrage of rockets at the ceiling in key points, then reformed his composite armor and began climbing down into the acid again. The cave shook and a section of the ceiling sealed the acid pool from above as it fell. Gram let go of the wall and dropped through the acid like the metal brick he was, landing many meters below the opening he'd come in from. He looked up to see several tubes like the one he'd exited, all filled with acid. Sonar showed that there was, however, a gas filled chamber free of acid up one of the tubes. If Gram could rupture the tubes to connect to that chamber, the acid would recede into that chamber instead of pushing up the tubes. First, Gram entered the chamber to test the air. It was full of sulfur and natural gas that would burn up if lit. Gram fired a timed grenade deep into the chamber and got back in the acid before it blew. The explosion ruptured one of the tubes and acid rushed into the chamber, finding cracks near the walls and draining further into the caves. Gram reentered the chamber and began firing explosives in the direction of the tube that caused the problems for Gouda, blowing rock chips everywhere. Finally breaking the last tubes, Gram used the map he'd constructed with sonar data and began climbing out of the cave. He kicked the lip of the hole in the wall out to drain the remaining small pool of acid that had collected there, then headed to the exit. He still smelled of sulfur, which was obvious by the reaction he got from the humans.<p>

"I take it you succeeded?" asked Rikimaru, disciplined enough to not make faces at the smell.

"The acid should no longer be an issue, but I couldn't do anything about the cave-ins. I marked where I drained the acid, as well as several branches of the cave that would be dangerous to continue down. I also marked safe passages and passages more likely to contain exposed gold and ore. Lastly, I discovered that this cave system connects somewhere else and that a neighboring country may be able to infiltrate from within the caves. At the current time the only way through I found has been sealed; however, please keep that in mind."

"Well, lucky for you," said Ayame, "This place is relatively close to where we need to bring you. So let's get going, already."

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><p>The day gave way to night before they arrived where the ninja had determined. Another cave system, this one with running groundwater.<p>

"Keep your eyes open," said Rikimaru, "This cave used to house some foul spirits... And if you see a man with white skin and tattoos, you leave him to us."

The two ninja and the android continued further and further in, following dimly lit paths until they reached a large chamber where the groundwater was collecting and flowing down small cracks. Rikimaru took the bundle from his back and unwrapped a large ceremonial sword. He dropped into the ankle-high water and held the sword up. Faint static issued from the sword into the chamber and a portal crackled to life.

"That should do it," said Ayame, slapping Gram on the back lightly. Gram jumped down, making a deep metal thunking sound as he struck the ground and shallow water, then approached the portal. If not for his advanced perception, what came out of the portal unexpectedly would have sheered off his head. Gram bent back, landing on his back in the water as some new enemy passed over him. Gram began to transform and weaponize instantly, popping up and facing the foe. It was an unidentified A.D.A.M. unit, appearing to be slash based. Gram, adaptable, adopted his age-old form with a rail gun on his head, plasma ejector on his chest, plasma sword and shield, and advanced clock-down system on his legs.

"Retreat, Azuma ninja!" announced Gram. To his surprise, they did as he said, jumping back up to the stone platform, weapons drawn and ready. The A.D.A.M. spun, slashing with a reinforced curved sword and uppercutting with a broadsword arm. Gram dodged the first attack and blocked the second, slicing his opponent from hip to shoulder with his plasma sword to counter. The enemy took a defensive step back, smoking where the sword had burned it. Its head unit, unidentified, seemed to charge with plasma just before the enemy unit vanished. Gram felt what he perceived as his enemy's back hit his own, unbalancing him. Without hands, Gram couldn't use the shove to reposition with a flip forward. Before Gram could hit the ground, the enemy unit appeared in front of him again and slashed up with its broadsword, passing straight through Gram's head. Thinking Gram was finished, the enemy turned and ran toward the stone platform where Rikimaru and Ayame stood.

"It can teleport, but this one seems to have Ki. Focus your senses!" said Rikimaru, closing his eyes and visualizing his enemy. Ayame did the same, though it wasn't her style to use her senses during a fight. Just as Rikimaru said, the enemy vanished but its Ki could be felt passing through the air quickly to end behind them. Rikimaru spun before the enemy appeared, slashing where its hip would be. With perfect timing, the enemy appeared and Izayoi sliced clean through the side of the enemy's katana arm, its hip, and its broadsword arm. Ayame opened her eyes, flipped over the enemy A.D.A.M., and stabbed into its shoulders, pulling its top half to the floor. New splashes in the water signaled two things changing: Gram was still up and was approaching, and another enemy had appeared from the portal. Gram leapt into the air, his body far more powerful than it looked, landing heavily on the enemy A.D.A.M.'s legs, crushing them. He raised his plasma sword, waiting for Ayame to step away, and slashed the enemy unit over and over. It could no longer hold its shape and collapsed into a pool of AI cells. A quick modification and Gram was burning the AI cells with plasma to prevent the enemy from reforming. As he did so, it was Rikimaru who blocked an attack to Gram's back from the new foe. Maniacal laughter sounded out...

"Still sharp, I see! Rikimaru!" said the new enemy, kicking off Rikimaru's sword and landing in front of the portal again, down in the water.

"Onikagé!" said Ayame, jumping down into the shallow water but maintaining distance.

"Stay here, wait for your opportunity, and get into the portal. We'll handle Onikagé," said Rikimaru, remaining calm.

Gram didn't answer, but his body began changing again. He formed light shields on his body to defend against impact type attacks, accelerated movement systems on his legs, a stun gun on his chest, and a visual camouflage system on his head. Before Rikimaru looked away he saw Gram become translucent. Any self-respecting ninja would still see him with enough focus, but he could be lost in the confusion of battle. Whatever Gram was, he understood fighting. That fact in and of itself gave him Rikimaru's unspoken respect.

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><p>The battle ran its course and finally Gram made his move, jumping over the portal to put it between himself and this "Onikagé" person. As Gram vanished, returning to his own world, Onikagé suddenly broke combat and chased him into the portal. Before either of the Azuma ninja could follow, the portal closed behind Onikagé, leaving them to wonder what would become of their foe and the artificial human that had so suddenly appeared to them...<p> 


End file.
